SENDING/RECEIVING DEVICE AND SENDING/RECEIVING METHOD

摘要

Along with contents, meta-information schema, meta-information, and an inference rule are received and stored. A meta-information operating section (310) retrieves and reads the meta-information stored in the meta-information storing section (307). A user profile storing section (312) holds the history of retrievals and reads. According to the inference rule, an attribute which is not directly described in the meta-information can be used. Based on the history of retrievals and reads, if the inference rule is a rule of which the application frequency is higher than a threshold value, a meta-information/schema modifying section (308) modifies the meta-information schema and meta-information so that they include the attribute determined by the inference rule, thereby reducing cases where the inference rule is always applied and consequently improving the retrieval efficiency.